Apparatus for making articles of metal and glass



Dec. 8, 1936. F. J. MALLOY APPARATUS FOR MAKING ARTICLES 0F METAL AND GLASS Patented Dec. 8, 1936 UNITED STATES PATENT oFFicE APPARATUS FOR MAKING ARTICLES F METAL AND GLASS tion' of New York Application January 12, 1985, Serial. No. 1,539 4 Claims.V (CL 49-2) My invention is a machine for sealing a glass or other vitreous member in the form of a flange or collar to the end portion of a metal tube, the said glass ange or collar being folded over and 5 sealed to both sides of the end portion of the tube.

My invention is particularly useful in the production of electric lamps or similar devices of the type disclosed in U. S. Patent 1,967,852, Daniel K. Wright, issued July 24, 1934, which comprise a glass bulb having outwardly extending metal terminal elements in the form of thimbles, the edges of which are sealed to openings in the walls of the bulb. vIn constructing these devices,

a glass collar is fused to the end of the tube or thimble and this end is then sealed to the walls of an opening in a cup-shaped glassbody which is subsequently fused to the neck of a glass bulb or envelope.

One of the objects of this invention is to provide a machine for automatically shaping and fusing the glass flange or collar to the end of the metal tube or thimble. The machine provides uniformly good seals so that when the tube is later fused to the glass bulb or envelope of the lamp or similar device, it ensures a good air-tight metal to glass seal.

Further features and advantages of my invention will appear from the following description of species thereof and from the drawing.

In the drawing, Fig. l is a vertical section through a portion of a machine comprising my invention; Fig. 2 is a partially sectional view of a. series of steps in making the seal between the metal tube or thimble and the glass .collar or flange; Fig. 3 is an end view of a portion of a collar forming mechanism of my machine; and Fig. 4 is a side elevation of mechanism for working the glass collar upon the inner and outer surfaces of the metal tubev or thimble.

Referring to Fig. l, the machine comprises a plurality of heads I0 located at the periphery -of a turret I I which is mounted on a vertical tubular shaft I2. The shaft I2 is mountedin a bracket I3 which is attached to a table I4 and is indexed intermittently by mechanism which is not shown. The heads each comprise a chuck I5 into which the small end of the metal thimble I5 is inserted. The chuck I5 is closed ybyremoval of the supporting means for tube I1 to which4 said chuck is attached which causes the fingers of said chuck to be pulled down in tube I8 and to be thereby closed upon the end of the thimble. The supporting means for tube I1 is indicated in dotted lines and comprises a collar I9 whichy is mounted on rod 2l and engages a collar 20 on the end of tube I1. The rod 2| is moved vertically in bracket 22 by cam-operated mechanism (not shown) As the supporting means is withdrawn, a spring 23, which is located between a 5 collar 24 on the end of tube I8 and the nut 25, causes the tube I1 to be moved downward. This movement of tube Il also relieves the pressure against collar 24 which permits spring 26 'to movetube I8 downward. Spring 26- is located l0 between collar 24 and the race of a ball bearing 21 which rides against a tube 28. The downward movement of tube I8 causes notches in collar 29 to engage notches in collar 30 which is attached to tube 2l. This movement causes the thimble l5 I0 .and chuck I5 to rotate because the said tube 23 is constantly being rotated through the engagement of a gear 3l thereon with a gear 32v which is attached to shaft 33 which in turn is rotated bymechanism not shown. 'I'he remain- 20 ing` parts of the turret head comprise a bracket 34 which is attached to the turret II and which supports, through `bushing 35, the upper end of tube 28. The lower end of said tube 28 is supported `by a bushing 35 in the turret I I. A wash- 25 er 3l is provided between collar 30 and bushing .35.

The tube 28 can not move vertically when the chuck is opened because the thrust thereof is takenby bushing 38 which is engaged by a collar '38 clamped to the tube 28. A tubular glass 30 flare 38 is placed upon the upper tapered thin end of the metal thimble I 6 as shown at A in Fig. 2 before the head is indexed away from the loading position. The large part of the thimble rests against the inwardly flanged portion of nut "35 33' which is attached to tube I8.

At positions of the heads I0 subsequent to the loading position, fires are directed onto the outside and inside of the thimble I6 and iiare 39. The ilres tend to oxidize the surfaces of the thim- 40 ble and to work the glass flare against the walls thereof. However. at the position at which the head is shown in section, a shoe 4I! comes in'contact with the ange portion of the flare and folds it down over the outer'surface of the end of the 45 thimble as shown at B, Fig'. 2. The shoe 40 consists preferably of a block of graphite and, as shown in Figs. l and 3, is attached to an arm 4I which is pivotally attached to a` yoke 42. The yoke 42 is fastened to an arm 43 which is pivot-,- 50 ally attached to a standard 4 4 by a pin 45. As the head comes into the position at which said shoe 40 is located, the arm 43 is lowered until the shoe comes in contact with the flanged portion of the glass flare. This position of the ann 43 is taken 55 when the head of bolt 46 strikes the standard 44 and is produced by a downward movement of rod 41. The rod is attached to one arm of lever 48 Winch is turned about a pin 49 extending from the standard by cam operated mechanism (not shown). 'Ihe rod 41 is also attached to arm 4| which is engaged by a bolt 50 extending from arm 43 and which carries the full weight of the assembly attached to arm 43 until bolt 46 strikes the standard. With the arm 43 in position, further downward movement of rod 41 swings arm Si about its pivots 41 and carries the shoe 40 down and around the edge of the thimble I6, thereby folding the flange of the flare down along the side thereof. Two burners 5| and 52 are located at this position which are directed against the iiange of the flare and the side of the thimble.

At a subsequent position of the head I0 the `thimble is brought before another mechanism of the machine shown in Figs. 1 and 4, which presses the glass collar 39 (Fig. 2-B) firmly upon the sides of the thimble. This device comprises a pair of rollers 53 and 54 mounted rotatably on pins in the end of levers 55 and 56 respectively. The said levers are mounted on bracket 51 and are rst carrieddown by said bracket so the rollers 53 and 54 are brought down adjacent the outer and inner surfaces respectively, of the thimble I6. This movement tends to wipe the inner and outer portions of the collar against the metal thimble and to force the air from between the collar and the thimble. The rollers 53 and 54 are pulled toward each other by springs 58 and 59 respec.

tively which. extend between posts in the opposite ends of the levers and posts 60 and 6l extending from bracket 51. The rollers move toward each other to firmly work the collar 39 against the surfaces of the thimble I6 as shown in Fig. 2-C, until the movement of the levers 55 and 56 is stopped by screws in the bracket 51. One of the screws 62 is shown in Fig. 4. Bracket 51 is mounted on rod 63 which is moved 'vertically in standard 64 by rod 65 attached thereto. The said bracket 51 is prevented from turning by a pin 66 extending from said standard 64. Rod 65 is operated by cam mechanism (not shown) and upon being lowered, it causes a flattening shoe 61 tostrike the top edge of the glass collar 39. 'I'he shoe^61 is attached to arm 68 which is pivotally attached. to standard 64 by pin 69 and is used to flatten the top edge of the glass collar and to make it perpendicular to the axis of the thimble. The said shoe 61 comes in contact with the collar 39 when the bracket 51 reaches its lower position since the arm 68 is supported by bolt 10 in the arm 1I extending from bracket 51. The lower limit of movement of the shoe is reached when arm 68 strikes the head of a bolt 12 in the standard 64. During this operation, the glass collar 39 is heated by the flames from burners 13 and 14. The said collar 39 is shown in its iinal form at C in Fig. 3, being sealed tightly to boththe inner and outer surfaces of the end of the thimble i6. The ma# chine provides the glass collar on the thimble free from ripples, air pockets or other irregularities.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is.:

1. A machine for uniting a glass collar to the end of a metal tube comprising a head for supporting said tube, means for rotating said head about its axis, heating means mounted adjacent said head for heating the end of the metal tube and a glass flare mounted on the end of said tube, a shoe mounted adjacent said head, means for moving said shoe toward said head and along the outer surface of the end of said metal tube whereby it engages a flange portion of said glass flare and folds it against the outer surface of saidl tube endto form a collar thereon, a pair of cylindrical rollers mounted adjacent each other and also adjacent said head, means for moving said rollers toward said head axially thereof to cause them to engage portions of said glass collar inside and outside of said tube respectively, and means for moving said rollers toward each other to compress said collar portions against said tube.

2. A machine for uniting a glass collar to the end of a metal tube comprising a head for supporting said tube, means for rotating said head about its axis, heating means mounted adjacent said head for heating the end of the metal tube and a glass ilare mounted on the end of said tube, a shoe mounted adjacent said head, means for moving said shoe toward said head and along the outer surface of the end of said metal tube whereby it engages a flange portion of said glass iiare and folds it against the outer surface of said tube and to form a collar thereon, a pair of cylindrical rollers mounted adjacent each other and'also adjacent said head, means for moving said rollers toward said head axially thereof to cause them to engage portions of` said glass collar inside and outside of said tube respectively, means for moving saidfrollers toward each other to compress said collar portions against said tube, a body having a fiat surface disposed axially of and adjacent said head, and means for moving said body toward said head to engage the rim of said glass collar in said head to flatten out said rim so that the surface thereof is in a plane substantially perpendicular to the axis of the metal-tube.

3. A machine for uniting a glass collar to the end of a metall tube comprising a rotatable turret, means for indexing said turret about a lvertical axis, a lplurality of vertically disposed heads mounted at the periphery of said turret and each vadapted to hold a metal tube having a glass flare placed on the upper end thereof, means for rotating said heads about their axes, burners mounted adjacent the periphery of said turret for heating the ends of said tubes and said glass flares, a shoe mounted adjacentthe periphery of said turret at one of the indexing positions thereof, means for moving said shoe down toward ahead and along the outer surface of the upper end of said tube whereby it engages a flange portion of said glass flare and folds it down against the outer surface of said tube to form a collar thereon, a pair of cylindrical rollers mounted adjacent each other above the path of travel of said heads at a subsequent indexing position of said turret, means for moving said rollers down toward a. head at said position axially thereof to cause lthen to engage portions of said glass collar inside and outside of said tube respectively, and means for moving said rollers toward each other to compress said collar portions against said tube.

4. A machine for uniting a glass collar to the end of a metal tube comprising a rotatable turrollers down toward a head at said position axially thereof to cause them to engage portions of said glass collar inside and outside of said tube respectively, means for moving said rollers toward eachother to compress said collar portions against said tube, a body having a at surface disposed above said head adjacent said rollers, and means for lowering said body to engage the rimv of said glass collar to flatten out said rim so that the surface thereof is in a plane substantially perpendicular to the axis 10 of the metal tube.

FRANK J. MALLOY. 

